Translator: Nox

Ch#58

[I'll reach out to Trebaga again. We need to persuade Tesetan first.]

With that final response, the communication orb went dark.

The blue cloak stared at the darkened orb for a few seconds before sighing and turning around.

But soon, an exclamation escaped his lips.

“Oh dear.”

From the mahogany bench to the marble fountain edge where his hand had briefly rested.

Every spot he had paced along the corridor while grumbling was stained with red blood.

The blue cloak furrowed his brow in embarrassment.

Lowering his gaze, he saw fresh red blood dripping steadily from beneath the cloak.

“……I should have at least done some emergency treatment after all.”

He hurriedly turned toward the path leading to the exit.

“I should have heeded the warning that holding multiple positions isn't for just anyone.”

Raising one hand to dispel the barrier at the exit, a dark corridor materialized in the air.

The blue cloak stepped into it without hesitation.

A few seconds after the owner vanished.

The greenhouse barrier reactivated.

The exit that had appeared in midair vanished seamlessly.

Right on cue, the complex magic device hanging from the ceiling whirred to life.

It was the magic tool that watered the greenhouse flowers twice a day.

As fine water droplets filled the air, a faint rainbow shimmered into view.

Over the large, red pool of blood gathered on the floor.

* * *

Popullosa Weapon District.

Berugon's workshop.

Veil set down the communication orb he had been holding.

Turning around, he saw his squad members staring intently at him.

“What did they say? Huh?”

Nordics asked first, his face etched with tension.

Enzo stomped his feet impatiently and pressed him.

“Are they coming? Right?”

Veil inhaled sharply and uttered a single word in a trembling voice.

“……They're coming.”

The members' eyes widened in shock.

“For real?!”

“Yeah. They're dispatching whatever personnel they can to help, right here.”

“As expected! I knew it!!”

Raoul punched the air and leaped from his seat.

“I told you! I knew the Union would come! Didn't I say so?!”

Veil rubbed his temples instead of replying.

“Haaa……”

His neck was still drenched in sweat from the intense tension.

His heart pounded so fiercely it made his head throb.

“The Mercenary Union is really coming to rescue Astie?”

Just then, Basto asked from the side.

Veil slumped into a chair and nodded.

“Yeah. They're coming. They just issued mobilization orders to the top three mercenary groups, and they'll support teleportation circles to get here as soon as they're ready.”

Not just sending support personnel, but even providing teleportation circles.

Basto clenched his fist tightly.

‘They can really save Tie.’

They can pull the child out of the subspace.

Relief washed over him at having found a solution.

But anxiety gnawed at him since they hadn't acted on it yet, leaving his mouth parched.

His mind replayed the desperate emergency meeting from an hour ago.

‘Then we just sit and watch? Let our captain get devoured by Krazar?!’

Right after Astie and Berugon were sucked into the subspace.

Agavert members and the blacksmiths alike scrambled for countermeasures.

It was only natural, with both groups on the verge of losing their leaders.

But due to the subspace's nature—impervious to external access—there seemed no way to extract them.

Until Enzo unexpectedly raised his hand with an idea.

‘How about this? We request rescue from the Mercenary Union.’

Mercenary Union.

The organization's full name, sometimes called the Frost Union, was the Frost Mercenary Union.

‘I heard about it when I was an apprentice holy knight. It's an organization that guarantees mercenaries' safety.’

The Frost Mercenary Union was, in fact, a fledgling organization less than five years old.

It had few affiliated groups, and even its leader's identity was shrouded in strict secrecy—a suspicious outfit.

Yet most mercenaries knew of its existence.

The reason was simple.

‘Frost Union. Aren't they the ones who rescue guys about to get wiped out sieging magic towers?’

‘Exactly. Most top mercenary groups are members anyway.’

‘……How? No, more importantly, where do they get all that funding? No clear money source, yet they meddle everywhere with that power?’

First was the Union's bizarre operations and mysterious funding.

Second was

‘But they connect mercenary groups to national commissions too. They must have some backing.’

their swift establishment of a national commission monopoly.

Basto gripped and released the chair armrest repeatedly, lost in deep thought.

National commission monopoly.

The term sounded complex, but the mechanism was straightforward.

‘Was it the Union's first year?’

Around that time, the Frost Union's chairman struck a treaty with the Imperial Family.

How he reached the emperor or the treaty's details didn't matter.

Basto still remembered the massive notice plastered at mercenary registries and reward offices.

[Public Notice]

The Imperial Cabinet and Frost Mercenary Union hereby announce as follows.

Henceforth, all national commissions shall be exclusively delegated to the ‘Frost Mercenary Union’ per the treaty between the Imperial Family and the Union.

Individual national commission delegations will cease immediately,

and all future national commissions will be assigned solely through the Frost Mercenary Union.

**The Union may prioritize commission starts to its affiliated groups.

National commissions, no less.

Major requests where the Imperial Family officially sought mercenary aid, promising hefty rewards.

‘And they're monopolizing the rights to those?’

That's when Basto grew suspicious.

The Frost Union, which he thought would fizzle out quickly, might actually be a formidable ambush with grand ambitions.

‘Damn it! National commissions were already hard to snag…… Now we can't even dream of them!’

Other mercenaries were equally wary of the Union's moves.

Even Death Hound's Kal flew into a rage.

‘What? Prioritizing start rights for affiliates?! Obvious. They'll demand absurd fees to join the Union!’

The mercenaries' reactions were perhaps inevitable.

‘How can we trust the Union! Mercenaries have decades of history— if it worked that well, why didn't it exist until now?’

‘Exactly. They talk about protecting rights, but in the end, only Union insiders get fat…….’

Resistance to the Union escalated rapidly among mercenaries.

Some even started an unspoken boycott against joining.

Basto had largely agreed with the sentiment back then.

‘No denying that bigger organizational power shrinks individual opportunities.’

Moreover, if the Frost Union turned out corrupt?

The moment they started doling out commissions for bribes, groups ranked 10th or lower would wither away.

National commissions were dream opportunities for most mercenaries.

Hefty monetary rewards.

Connections and fame built in the process.

For small groups, a chance to grow; for mid-tier ones, a shot at climbing ranks.

But if a Union-favored few monopolized those chances…….

‘It looked dangerous.’

It had certainly seemed perilous to Basto's eyes.

The immense power the Frost Mercenary Union had acquired overnight.